Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We feel it has
been an incredible blessing for us to be here in PNG supporting Bible
translation and we know that without all your prayers, encouragement,
emails, and financial assistance this would not have been possible. Thank
you!! We hope our newsletters have helped you realize what an important part
you have played in spreading God's kingdom around the world.

Although we will miss being with family and friends, we look forward to
spending Christmas day with a translator couple from Switzerland, and their
two national translators. God bless each of you as you celebrate Christ's
birth.

Return to PNG

December 10th we flew back to PNG, and it looked even more beautiful to me
than usual. We were so thankful to be back and be reunited with the rest of
the family again, and want to thank everyone who prayed for us and supported
us in so many different ways. It's great to be part of the body of Christ.

Tourists in Cairns

The last week we rented a car and visited the zoo as well as some beaches.
Cairns is a beautiful place to vacation, but it wasn't quite the same
without the whole family being there to enjoy it.

Another hospitalization

The next few weeks dragged by as we waited for his foot to respond to the
antibiotics, made a few changes in antibiotics, obtained an MRI, reopened
the foot and washed out the joint, restarted IV antibiotics for a week, then
returned to our hotel on further oral antibiotics.

McDonalds in the hospital

November 4th the abscess was drained and the next day, a very kind friend
brought Leif McDonalds which he hadn't had in a long time. Needless to say,
it disappeared quite quickly. I was happy to have an iced coffee.

Getting ready to leave

Noah and Tia were anxious to say good-bye to Leif; little did we know we
would be gone for 5 weeks. As we put on the water vests, I kept thinking to
myself that hopefully we wouldn't be needing to use them. We flew in the
new Kodiak airplane.

Leif's medevac to Cairns, Australia

On November 3rd, 2010 Leif and I were sent to Cairns, Australia for an
infection of joint and bone in Leif's foot. He initially had a soccer
injury, but then an infection he had simultaneously in his elbow, travelled
to his foot.

Bible Dedication

The Yopno New Testament was dedicated this past August. Wes and Leann
raised two children while they were in PNG working with the Yopno people.
Their children, along with an in-law and grandchild, were able to return to
PNG for the dedication. Wes and Leann spent over 20 years working on the
translation, and just returned to the U.S this month to begin a new phase of
their life.

Back to Ukarumpa

Ukarumpa from the air

In Madang

While in Madang, Doug visited the market, which is a lot bigger and has more
of a selection than our market in Ukarumpa.

Martin and his family

Doug was able to visit with Martin, one of the national translators we've
talked about in our newsletters. Approximately 4 months ago, Martin fell
off the roof of his village house and ended up with a compression fracture
in his back. He needs to stay in Madang for at least another 6 weeks before
he can attempt the boat trip of 3 hours out to his village. His wife and
little girl, Karisma, who is Tia's age are staying with him in Madang,
because Karisma was just recently hospitalized for malaria. A few years
ago, Karisma also had heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. Martin
is anxious to get back to his village because he has 2 other little boys at
home whom he hasn't seen since June, when he had the accident.

Flight to Madang

Yesterday, Doug had the opportunity to fly to Madang (a city on the coast of
PNG) for the day. It was over a year ago that we were all in Madang. To
drive it would take at least 6 hours depending on the roads. It's a
beautiful drive, but the roads aren't always the greatest to travel on.

Tia's 7th birthday

October 1 Tia celebrated her 7th birthday.

Marching Band

Cole and Leif both love marching band.  Cole plays the clarinet and Leif plays the trumpet. 

Beautiful Rai Coast - Madang Province

Our friend, Nafian and his family are pictured here. Nafian is a Papuan New
Guinean translator working on the Rai Coast in the province of Madang, with
the Madi people. His house is pictured in the dusk, close to the ocean.

Sports Day at the Primary Campus

Sports Day is always a highlight of the school term for the kids. The
rivalry between the yellow and red teams makes it a lot of fun. This year
the scores between the two were so close they needed a tug-of-war to break
the tie in favor of the red team.